LONGVIEW—Cowlitz County District Court Judge Debra Burchett is suspended from the bench for 10 days without pay starting Aug. 2.
The Supreme Court of Washington filed the decision Tuesday, almost two months after a state ethics committee recommended a bench suspension for the first-term judge after Burchett and the organization agreed she violated parts of the state’s Code of Judicial Conduct.
The Washington Commission on Judicial Conduct in May censured Burchett and recommended she be suspended from the bench for 10 days and required her to receive permission from the ethics commission to run for reelection. Burchett’s term ends this January and she did not file for re-election.
The censure is the highest reprimand the commission can impose. This was the second time Burchett has faced disciplinary action from the ethics commission recently. She was also reprimanded in April 2021.
